Oral arguments in Fall River wiretap case slated for Friday

Wednesday

Apr 9, 2014 at 11:55 PMApr 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Oral arguments are scheduled for Friday in the case of a Fall River man who was arrested in January for recording a city police officer who was allegedly screaming obscenities during a street construction detail.

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

FALL RIVER — Oral arguments are scheduled for Friday in the case of a Fall River man who was arrested in January for recording a city police officer who was allegedly screaming obscenities during a street construction detail.

George Thompson’s defense lawyer filed a motion last month to dismiss an illegal wiretap charge that Fall River police Officer Thomas Barboza filed against Thompson. Prosecutors have not responded to the motion. Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on a motion that is about to litigated.

Barboza, in his police report, said Thompson was secretly recording him with a phone hidden under his left hand, but Thompson said he was recording the officer in plain sight the entire time. The incident occurred on the front porch of Thompson’s Locust Street house on Jan. 6.

In his report, Barboza wrote that at one point, Thompson told him, “That’s right, I’m recording you.”

Thompson said Barboza became irate when he spotted Thompson recording him from his front porch.

“A fair reading of the case law discussed above does not lead to the conclusion that Barboza acted in good faith when he arrested Thompson,” defense attorney Daniel Igo wrote in his motion to dismiss.

Thompson appeared before the Fall River City Council on Tuesday night, saying that his rights have been violated and calling for an investigation of the Fall River Police Department.

Police reports show that Thompson’s iPhone — which Barboza seized into evidence after Thompson’s arrest — had its memory erased while it was in the custody of the Fall River Police Department. Chief Daniel Racine has said that the phone could have been erased remotely through the iCloud, though Thompson said the phone was not connected to the Internet. Racine has said that any officer or police department employee proven to have erased Thompson’s phone faces possible termination.

Barboza received a one-day suspension and a 15-day prohibition from street details by Racine, who said that Barboza admitted to bad conduct on the detail.